Tag Archives: David Pristash

Jul 23 2020

The Coming Coin Shortage


The Federal Reserve also established a U.S. Coin Task Force

Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh image

Re-Posted from the Canada Free Press By  —— Bio and Archives—July 22, 2020

The Coming Coin Shortage

As if the global economic disaster caused by the Chinese Covid-19 viral pandemic was not bad enough, the looming global “coin shortage” and the “unknown pneumonia” (Covid-20?) in Kazakhstan are here.

Why exactly do we have a coin shortage?

  • Banks tell us that the Fed are not releasing enough coins.
  • Armstrong Economics wrote that faith in governments has been eroded. It sees governments as promoters of the idea that money is dirty, and the solution is to eliminate coins and paper money even though physical money as a medium of exchange has been in circulation for centuries.
  • The U.S. Treasury reported a disruption in the coin supply chain and its velocity of circulation due to the lockdowns and the huge reduction in consumption in the last four months of forced lockdowns in all 50 states. People shopped mostly for food and avoided all other venues of direct commerce for fear of Covid-19 infection and because so many places were closed. Many shopped online or in large retailers like Costco, Target, Walmart, and Amazon.
  • Allegedly, the U.S. Mint has minted less coins to protect employees from COVID-19. It is an interesting issue to ponder since minting coins and printing paper currency are highly automated operations, with expensive computers driving the printing and minting presses and requiring very few employees, mostly in checking roles to make sure the machines run properly and the mint/print are done correctly, as well as controlling the quality of each batch that is bound and packaged for distribution and circulation.
  • Some central banks are sterilizing money with UV light to prevent the spread of viral infections.
  • The Fed purportedly quarantined for ten days U.S. dollars returning from Europe and Asia.

The U.S. Treasury sees the current coin shortage in U.S. businesses as a decrease in velocity of various coins in circulation. The Treasury estimated the value of coins in circulation in April 2020 of $47.8 billion as an adequate coin supply, larger than last year’s supply of coins by at least half a billion. But the closing of retail shops, many permanently, bank branches, transit authorities, and laundromats due to Covid-19 fears, eliminated the typical places where coins enter circulation.

Nobody knows exactly if people are hoarding coins on purpose or if the businesses that have closed temporarily or permanently have cleared out all their cash registers of coins and paper currency.

“The coin supply chain includes many participants, from the U.S. Mint who produces new coin, to the Federal Reserve who distributes coin on the U.S. Mint’s behalf, to armored carriers, banks, retailers and consumers, all of whom have a role to play in helping to resolve this issue.”

On June 11, the Federal Reserve announced the Strategic Allocation of Coin Inventories which was a temporary coin order allocation in all Reserve Bank offices and Federal Reserve coin distribution locations effective June 15, 2020.

The Federal Reserve also established a U.S. Coin Task Force in early July to deal with disruptions to normal coin circulation.  All interested parties participated – U.S. Mint, Federal Reserve, armored carriers, American Bankers Association, Independent Community Bankers Association, National Association of Federal Credit Unions, Coin aggregator representatives, and retail trade industry.

The Federal Reserve said that “it is confident that the coin inventory issues will resolve once the economy opens more broadly and the coin supply chain returns to normal circulation patterns, however, “it recognizes that these measures alone will not be enough to resolve near-term issues.”

Jul 22 2020

Another Crushing Blow to the Climate Fearmongers


Internationally-known climate alarmist defects

John Eidson image

Re-posted from the Canada Free Press By  —— Bio and Archives—July 21, 2020

Michael Schellenberger

On his nationally syndicated radio show, conservative commentator Dennis Prager recently interviewed someone most people have never heard of: Michael Schellenberger. A passionate defender of the planet, the 49-year-old environmentalist is shown below in a picture taken in 1995 in Maranhão, Brazil.

A TIME magazine “Hero of the Environment” and Green Book Award recipient, Schellenberger is a lifelong Democrat and environmental activist. An internationally respected energy expert, he has been asked by Congress to provide objective expert testimony, and was invited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to serve as an Expert Reviewer of its next Assessment Report. A frequent contributor to The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Scientific American, Schellenberger has been one of the world’s most vocal environmental alarmists for the last 30 years.

On Behalf of Environmentalists, I Apologize for the Climate Scare

That was then.

In a 180-degree turn after realizing he’d participated in the two greatest scientific scandals in history — man-made global warming theory and renewable energy — Schellenberger is now offering a full-throated apology for assisting the climate fear industry in its relentless campaign to win support for draconian cutbacks in fossil fuel energy by terrorizing people of the world with hysterical claims of imminent climate collapse. 

The most high profile victim of that terror campaign was brainwashed with horrifying climate propaganda when she was eight.  Nine years later and now a true believer, teen climate activist Greta Thunberg has become a deeply traumatized young woman, as shown in this 48-sec. clip.  Shellenberger’s website reports a survey showing that one in five children in the UK are suffering nightmares about Earth’s ever-changing climate.

Schellenberger, who believes nuclear energy is the only feasible way to reduce reliance on fossil fuels without crashing western economies, formally announced his mea culpa in an article titled, “On Behalf of Environmentalists, I Apologize for the Climate Scare.” The article was published by Forbes, only to be taken down three days later without explanation, which shows that the dying climate fear industry still has enough clout to silence dissenting views. Schellenberger’s article, which I highly recommend, can be seen on his website.

Here are a few of his observations, each of which undercuts climate propaganda used to terrorize children (future voters) and other easily indoctrinated people:

  • Climate change is happening, but it’s not the end of the world. It’s not even our most serious environmental problem.
  • Humans are not causing a “sixth mass extinction.” Habitat loss and the killing of wild animals for food and body parts are greater threats to endangered species than climate change.
  • The Amazon is not the “lungs of the Earth.”
  • Fires around the world have declined 25% since 2003. The combination of a build-up of natural fuel (dead trees, underbrush) plus more houses near forests, not climate change, is why California and Australia recently experienced catastrophic fires.

Bottom Line: We’ve Been Fed a Pack of Lies

Bottom Line: We’ve Been Fed a Pack of Lies

Their apocalyptic predictions having failed to materialize for decades on end, the climate fear lobby defaulted to one of the Third Reich’s most effective propaganda techniques. Known as the “Big Lie,” it goes like this: If you’re going to lie, make it a Big Lie, keep repeating it and people will believe it. One of their biggest Big Lies is the terrifying claim that coastal cities face imminent demise due to global warming.

At the 2014 New York Times’ DealBook conference, Al Gore said, “I was in Miami a few weeks ago, and on a sunny day, fish from the ocean were swimming in some of the streets.”  In attempting to frighten voters to think the entire city would soon be submerged, Gore blamed the incident on melting ice caused by global warning.

No so.

According to Miami’s TV7 News, the National Weather Service attributed the flooding to a combination of causes, primarily “high astronomical tides due to the lunar cycle.” In other words, melting ice from global warming didn’t cause the flooding.  The moon did.

Like other coastal cities, Miami does have issues with flooding.  But despite Gore’s doomsday preachings, the city’s contemporary coastline appears the same as it did nearly a hundred years ago.  The side by side comparison below is from Schellenberger’s website, and is used here with his permission.

Miami Beach: Then and Now

Miami Beach: Then and Now

 

Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All

Al Gore: Elmer Gantry of “saving the planet”

Shellenberger’s must-read new book, “Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All,” comes on the heels of another crushing blow to the climate fearmongers. Earlier this year, Michael Moore’s jaw-dropping “Planet of the Humans” was released. The feature length documentary, which can be seen for free on YouTube, exposes “renewable energy” for what it is: a brazen environmental hoax that’s done little more than pour billions of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of Al Gore and other climate snake oil salesmen.

The increasingly discredited theory that human use of fossil fuels is rapidly destroying the planet is also a hoax, which I wrote about in “The Cynical Plot behind Global Warming Hysteria.” Despite what’s reported by the corrupt western media establishment, renewable energy and AGW theory are not about saving the planet. They’re about amassing wealth and authoritarian political power in the hands of a few.

Some additional words about the Elmer Gantry of “saving the planet”

Global movements that demand trillions of dollars in new taxes should be judged by the credibility of their most outspoken advocates. In the environmental arena, no one is more outspoken than Al Gore. Few insiders have personally profited from the renewable energy scam more than the former vice president.

When he left office in 2001, his net worth was estimated at $1 million to $2 million. Since then, his wealth has skyrocketed to $300 million, and if the climate change legislation he advocates is enacted, he stands to become a billionaire. Much of his enviable fortune has come as an inside investor in government-backed renewable energy projects, many of which went belly-up, but not before politically connected insiders made off with millions, leaving hardworking U.S. taxpayers stuck with the bill.

Like all wealthy eco-preachers, the Elmer Gantry of renewable energy uses his immense wealth to indulge in lavish living. When asked by Rep. Marsha Blackburn during his 2009 testimony before Congress whether he personally profits from his advocacy of global warming, Pastor Al professed a vow of poverty: “Every penny I have made I have put into a non-profit deal, the Alliance for Climate Protection, to spread awareness of why we have to take on this challenge. And Congresswoman, if you believe the reason I have been working on this issue for 30 years is out of greed, you do not know me.” If you’ve never seen the tense encounter, you do not want to miss it:

Turned out Rep. Blackburn knows him quite well. As the proud owner of a gargantuan green energy fortune, Pastor Al looked her squarely in the eye and denied making even a penny of profit. If every penny he makes goes into a non-profit deal, how did he end up with $300 million? The same way his alter ego pilfered money from the Lord: by concealing his true stripes.

Please consider buying a copy of Michael Schellenberger’s important new book and sharing his pro-nuclear energy message with your friends.

Jul 20 2020

Hoarding Cash and the plan to Eliminate cash!


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics

Re-Posted Jul 20, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

The reason there is a shortage of cash developing around the world is rather straight-forward. The trust in the government is collapsing. Italy has just lowered the legal amount someone can pay for anything in cash from €3000 to €2000. Australia made it a criminal act to pay for anything with A$10,000 or more (US$7,000).  In Switzerland, the limit on cash you can withdraw from an ATM is CHF5,000. In Germany, the limitation is typically €1000. Greeks abroad will be able to withdraw up to 5,000 euros ($5,800) a month.

In the United States, the US Treasury says the pandemic has significantly disrupted the supply chain and circulation patterns of US coins. Additionally, the US Mint has been printing fewer coins to protect its employees from COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) has not advised banning paper money, but it has stressed the need for handwashing after touching cash, which is a subtle caution that money should be limited. Some central banks are deploying measures to sterilize paper money with heat or UV light. Even the Fed began a seven to 10-day quarantine for United States dollars returning to the country from Europe and Asia.

It is very clear that governments are trying to paint money as dirty, and the solution is to eliminate physical money, despite the fact that it has been in use since about the 7th century BC. All of a sudden, it is a danger after 28 centuries. This plays nicely into the Socialist’s dream to control everything!

Jul 18 2020

Milton Friedman – What is America?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics

Re-Posted Jul 18, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

 

Jul 17 2020

Trend in Interest Rates


Armstrong Economics Blog/Interest Rates

Re-Posted Jul 17, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Marty,

Good morning. Repo rates have been creeping up ever so slightly and quietly. Points wise not much, but percentage-wise, numbers are getting bigger. Has everybody been lulled to sleep and looking the wrong way again?

Best,
E

REPLY: The shift from a Public to a Private wave is in full motion. We can see this in Moody’s AAA Corporate Bond Index. Note that the while chaotic swing in March ran right up to the top of the Downtrend Channel and then we have swung down and just closed below the bottom of the channel. We have an important turning point arriving in October. We show the next major turning point in the US 30-year bonds being September.

These governments imposing lockdowns again are acting political rather than in the best interest of the people. Locking people down results in a collapse of tax revenue. Many in the USA have been promised by the Democrats they will be bailed out if they win the White House right down to their pension funds. This is what is going on behind the curtain – cutting deals.

Clearly, these governments are not stupid. They have to realize how much revenue has collapsed and how much damage they have caused to the people and the economy. Our models are projecting HIGHER interest rates ahead and this reflects their high-risk gamble on trying to overthrow Trump. What they fail to grasp is that the private sector has lost all confidence in governments and as such, they have destroyed the old financial system of perpetual borrowing.

As fiscal mismanagement abounds, interest rates will rise to reflect credit risk. The central banks are powerless to prevent this rise. The Fed cannot buy all state debt any more than the ECB will be authorized to buy all sovereign debt in the Eurozone. We have reached the point of no return.

Jul 10 2020

Risk Seems to be Everywhere


Armstrong Economics Blog/ECM

Re-Posted Jul 10, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Dear Martin,

Thank you for your commitment to helping others through this unsettling time.

Long before I found you, I was fascinated with the capital markets and historical financial crashes, in particular. I spent many years on Wall Street (and LaSalle ST) building and marketing trading systems for the listed options industry.

Through the numerous currency failures, be they inflationary or deflationary, running to private assets has been a lifesaver for some clever enough to figure it out or those lucky to be serendipitously well positioned. Yet, it is always about timing. That is the subject of this question.

If the value of a currency is based on the productive power of the people behind the currency, it makes sense that Socrates is pointing to private assets going forward. It seems to me that the very best private assets would be businesses that enjoy productive power (not so easy to predict/choose in this environment). Whether we are denominating in dollars, rice, or seashells, it seems that a solid business will crank out currency units in whatever form and be a good hedge.

Hugo Stinnes emerged after WWI as an industrialist. Controlling coal, steel, electricity, and other fundamental businesses, he was able to profit as the currency collapsed. Stinnes continued this work straight through the introduction of the Rentenmark and Reichsmark seemingly not skipping a beat. He possessed productive power but was also very politically connected, which is key to this question. Later, The Third Reich was notorious for shutting down or nationalizing businesses. We look to be headed in that direction.

For those accumulating profits in, for example, mining stocks during the commodity boom, or wheat contracts, or equities, the question is, how do we get out of those trades? What is the risk that we sell/trade at the right time only to have our assets seized? For example, do you foresee a day, here in the U.S., whereby the government liquidates a portion of an account’s common shares for a bail-in or wealth tax? If so, then illiquid private placements (productive real estate or businesses with durable Free Cash Flow) that are very hard to value (and liquidate) might be the only real safe haven.

The risk seems to be everywhere. The risk most concerning and most difficult to predict or quantify is Government Risk – even here in the U.S. I can understand why the very wealthy buy paintings and rare items. Such items represent a real possibility to function as a “time machine” to bridge this insanity.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Above all, Socrates is a lifesaver and I am humbled to have access.

With respect,
JC

Texas

ANSWER: Yes, I knew a client who bought up all the old coins for scrap metal. Then it turned out there was a shortage of metal so the old coins were deemed valid at a new exchange rate. He made a fortune. There are definitely commodities that will preserve wealth in times like this. We must be careful about the Socialists, for they will do the same as the Nazis and nationalize just confiscating assets.

I believe the best shot we have is Socrates — let it monitor the subtle shifts. The one thing you can count on is the greed of those in power. Just as I began to see the subtle shifts with the Repo Crisis last August 2019, thereafter the markets were showing something was not right. I stood up at the WEC in Orlando and warned that something was seriously wrong and that the market would undergo a serious correction with the turn in the ECM.

Historically, Socrates seems to pick up things we humans do not see because they are subtle. It is like playing chess. You have to come up with a strategy and play in your mind the next several moves. You will lose if you simply react on a one move at a time basis. This is what Socrates is doing. It is playing out strategies. It looks for the possible paths and then monitors the movements across the entire globe to determine the eventual path. This is why NOBODY can forecast the future with 100% accuracy. We cannot as humans see all the possibilities. Socrates is mapping out the future and it reveals the most likely path and course of action.

Things can change and we get cycle inversions. But it is always playing one region against another. This is why all of these pundits fail because they focus typically just domestically and never see the trends coming from external factors. Things are so bad in Europe and the politicians are deliberately blocking travel from the USA to Europe in an effort to overthrow Trump to further their New Green World Order. In the process, before year-end, they will bankrupt at least 20% of all small businesses and wipe out the tourist trade for Southern Europe. These morons think they can placate the public with minimal subsistence from Guaranteed Basic Income they are beginning in Spain.

They will NOT be able to defeat the Monetary Crisis Cycle no matter what schemes they come up with. This is totally insane. Nevertheless, we will be monitoring what markets we need to exit in advance to try to preserve assets. This is a game of survival of the fittest. We do not have to run around naked on some island eating bugs. But we may have to take precautions and move to safe havens outside of urban cities for sure.

Jul 10 2020

CO2 = 0.04% of the Atmosphere – It’s All Propaganda for Socialism


Armstrong Economics Blog/Climate

Re-Posted Jul 10, 2020 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: If all of these scientists claim that CO2 will fry us in a few years, how can you argue against this 97%?

WJ

ANSWER: You are buying into an agenda that is really not about climate change/global warming. If you look at NASA’s own site, you will find that CO2 only makes up 0.04% of the atmosphere. Please explain how CO2 is so dangerous that it will “fry” us all to death in a few short years? I would prefer to be dead than to live in the world these people are trying to create — the third attempt to seize the world with Marxism.

As for your 97%, that too is a very clever fraud. You accept whatever they say, and because of you, we will lose all our liberties since you question me but not them. I will not take your liberty; they will because they seek power!